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My name is Brian Swain, and I am running for the
KPFT Local Station Board because of my strong desire to be a part
of the most dynamic and vital alternative media outlet in the Houston
area. Having now met many current board and staff members, I am
consistently impressed by the passion and dedication of everyone
involved, and am committed to contributing in any way possible to
the continuing success of this organization.
I have lived in Houston for five years, and have
been involved in a variety of nonprofit endeavors, both here and
in other locations. Most recently, I performed extensive volunteer
work for Mayor Bill White's campaign team, focusing on financial
management and event organization. I have been a committee member
with the Epilepsy Foundation of Southeast Texas, and also served
on the board of Rebuilding Together in Newark, New Jersey, an organization
that renovates inner city homes for elderly and low-income owners.
Finally, I am actively involved with the Houston writing community,
having published numerous works of poetry and fiction in local literary
journals.
I hold a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering
from Columbia University, as well as an MBA from The Wharton School.
I have twenty years of professional work experience, including engineering,
marketing, and management consulting for such firms as Bell Laboratories,
AT&T, McKinsey & Company, and Reliant Energy, and this experience
includes work in more than a dozen countries, including Australia,
India, South Africa, and Northern Ireland. These educational and
professional experiences should allow me to contribute to the LSB
in a number of important capacities, including finance, marketing
and outreach, technology, and international and geopolitical affairs.
If elected, membership on the KPFT Local Station
Board will provide me with the opportunity to contribute to the
leadership of an organization whose positive influences on the city
of Houston are extensive and enduring. I am continually concerned
with how our city is regarded across the country and around the
world, and I would deeply value the chance to have a role in enhancing
our reputation and attractiveness for new and existing families
and businesses. I believe that a thriving progressive media outlet
is a critical component of an internationally recognized city, and
I would be honored to serve in any capacity that drives the success
of such an endeavor.
Candidate Questionnaire
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Why do you want to be on the Local Station
Board ?
Membership on the KPFT Local Station Board will afford me the
opportunity to contribute to an organization whose positive
influences on the city of Houston are far-reaching and enduring.
Having moved here only five years ago, I am continually concerned
with how the city is viewed across the country and around the
world, and I would deeply value the chance to have a role in
enhancing our reputation and attractiveness for new and existing
families and businesses. More specifically, I believe that the
existence of a vibrant progressive media outlet is a critical
component of an internationally recognized city.
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How do you envision the Local Station
Board working with the Pacifica Foundation,KPFT and the community?
One important way in which the LSB ought to
work with the Foundation and its network of stations is to serve
as a conduit for the effective promulgation of best practices
across all of Pacifica's media outlets. Insofar as a particular
operating practice, funding source, or other business approach
proves successful in one market, the Local Station Board should
be apprised of the approach and should work to examine its applicability
in the KPFT/Houston area.
In addition, the LSB should actively solicit
the views of the community as to possible station improvements,
whether through town hall meetings, call-in programs, email,
or other means. These ideas should be carefully examined, vetted,
and implemented where appropriate.
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How could the station better serve its'
listeners?
In addition to serving as a source of entertainment and information,
the station should also serve, where possible, as an advocate
for the needs of its listenership and for the city at large,
particularly in under-represented communities. Such advocacy
could take numerous forms, including:
- Acting as an intermediary between individuals and potential
solutions to their problems, through call-in shows, web
site resource listings, and other approaches.
- Providing a liaison between the station and the mayor's
office and other city officials to ensure their continuing
awareness of community issues. In particular, the station
should have, at a minimum, relationships with the city council
members who represented the ethnically rich communities
in our city.
- Broadcasting occasional programming from remote locations
in underrepresented neighborhoods.
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Describe some actions you would take to
increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities
and to increase the diversity of the listening audience?
Some ideas for increasing the influence of the station in underrepresented
communities are touched upon in the foregoing section. In addition
to these, it would appear that the most straightforward way
to increase the diversity of KPFT's listenership is in the choice
of programming. Insofar as the station already features programming
focused on the Hispanic market and other ethnic groups, this
is, I believe, an area of strength for the station. Still, other
opportunities doubtless exist. For example, the station could
serve as sponsor for diversity-focused events, festivals, etc.
A particular segment of the community that would benefit from
such outreach efforts at the moment is the Islamic/Arabic community.
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What sources of funding, other than listener
donations, do you feel KPFT should solicit?
Alternative sources of funding might include government organizations,
including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment
for the Humanities, and other federal grant-making bodies.
In addition, there may be similar state, county, and city grant-making
organizations. It should also be feasible to pursue the support
of various private foundations (e.g. The MacArthur Foundation),
particularly those that focus on media and broadcasting.
To expand the universe of funding options,
it is would be useful to explore the possibility of a local
consulting firm (e.g. McKinsey, KPMG) undertaking a pro
bono study to identify such sources. Having worked at McKinsey,
I am familiar with the individuals within that firm who would
be in a position to make such a decision. Furthermore, publications
such as The Chronicle of Philanthropy contain exhaustive
listings of organizations that support nonprofits such as KPFT.
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Please state briefly the skills, experience,
educational background, work history, organizational affiliations,
areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise
that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of
the Local Station Board?
I hold a Masters Degree in Engineering from Columbia University,
as well as an MBA from The Wharton School. I have twenty
years of professional work experience, including engineering,
marketing, and management consulting for such firms as Bell
Laboratories, AT&T, McKinsey & Company, and Reliant Energy,
and this experience includes work in more than a dozen countries,
including Australia, India, South Africa, and Northern Ireland.
My nonprofit experience includes membership
on the executive board of Christmas in April/Rebuilding Together
in Newark, New Jersey, as well as committee work for the Epilepsy
Foundation of Southeast Texas. I also performed extensive
volunteer work for Mayor Bill White's campaign in the summer
and fall of 2003, focusing primarily on campaign finance and
event management. Finally, I am actively involved with the Houston
writing community, having published numerous works of poetry
and fiction in local literary journals.
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Do you anticipate missing any Local Station
Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate
transportation?
I see no reason why I would miss any board meetings.
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On which Local Station Board committees
are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current
Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently
serve?
Two groups are of particular interest to me – the Finance Committee
and the World Affairs and News Committee. The former is attractive
because I believe that my extensive business and consulting
background would allow me to contribute from the outset. The
latter is of interest because of my extensive international
professional experience and my strong general interest in world
affairs and geopolitics.
Should you wish to learn more about my views
on any of these matters, feel free to contact me at the email
below.
Brian Swain
bswain@reliant.com
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